Made By Lex

These are the dresses that I made last week for the girlies. Emmy is always asking for the girls to wear all white in their photo sessions that she does with them so I decided to finally make something that worked. I used a white cotton for the shift dress and then a slightly varying color of white for the pleated neckline and hemline. I think they are so simple and beautiful.

Here’s a closeup of the neckline.

I gave them jars at the beach to collect their shells.

Under the pier.

Can’t you just tell Giselle feels loved here?

Looking for fishies!

Sissies hands.

A tender moment.

After a long walk, a little rest on the stairs and a sister hug to end our great day.

There are some people that are blessed with being able to follow directions, and there are those that are better at being able to give directions. They each have their ups and downs. I am one of those that likes to instruct, not follow. So while sitting down to my new sewing books and attempting projects, sometimes I feel like I’m reading Japanese, which is a language I know NOTHING about. But, I think it’s good for me to learn some things. I just have to re-read the directions about 17 times before I get it. That’s why I normally make my own projects up, but I think learning to follow will help teach me some things I never learned.

So here is a sewing caddy I made form, “Seams to Me” by Anna Maria Horner. I’ve decided Anna Mare Horner is my new favroite fabric designer. I like the functionality of it and I used pieces of fabric that remind me of my children, husband, and friends. So I think of them while I’m sewing now.
Then something really momentous happened! Isabel has been asking me to learn to sew and I’ve been lazy about teaching her. Finally, I am letting her do it. I warned her of the possible hand pricks but she still was determined to do it.
Here are our two hand stitching together.
I want her to learn to hand stitch first. So yesterday she made this heart pillow and today a flower one. She hung them over her bed. I was so proud of her.
Then today I made the Everything Tote from “Weekend Sewing” by Heather Ross. It was really easy to make(I actually understood all the directions!) I love the way it came out and love mustard and blues together. I think it’s the perfect bag for summer.

A close up. This blue printed fabric is probably one of my favorites of all times. I adore it.
It’s the one I made this pillow out of. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever made. And while I’m looking at it I notice that the colors of my bag are the colors of my couch and the pillow. Odd..
The inside of the bag.

Yesterday I also made the girls white on white dresses. They look so pretty, but I’ll save that post for later!

EDITED TO SAY:
As I was looking at my new purse, I realized I did NOT follow the instructions correct and put the purse handles on wrong! They are supposed to go from one side to the other. Just when I thought I had begun getting over my direction block!! Rats!

Today I got out my Oliver + S Shorts Pattern and made these shorts for the girls. I varied from the pattern slightly and added the different bias tape and then my new favorite thing- this ruffle crochet trim that I get at Harts. It’s so great! This is the only kid’s pattern I own and I really like it.

Isabel’s 5th birthday is next month so my next project is making her a backpack and lunchbox for her first year of real school next year! I’m working on the pattern today. Isabel is obsessed with this fabric and has been for a year now. I don’t know if it would work to do the backpack out of it since it’s sweatshirt material. But I might just make her a sweatshirt out of it. But $28/yard!! I need to calculate whatever measurements VERY accurately!

I’m also thinking about making some patterns for some girls’ dresses or skirts. I’m looking through my designs and seeing which ones I think people would like the most. We’ll see where it leads me!

How many of you have shirts like this laying around? Stains all over the front of them get’s so frustrating! I came up with this way to save these shirts and turn them into something fabulous and it’s really easy to do!

First, cut the shirt off, about right below the bustline.

Next. measure your shirt to see how wide it is so we can figure out how much fabric we are going to need to add on.

Pick out the fabric you want to add to it. You can do different layers or just one piece. I love these two Amy Butler prints together.

Now measure your fabric. You are going to need DOUBLE the width of your shirt. If your shirt is 20 inches around, cut 40 inches of fabric. The length of the fabric will depend on the height of you child and if you want to do a shirt or a dress.

At this time, if you have more than once piece of fabric, sew or serge them together to make one piece that you will add to your top. Then we are going to do the hem. For whatever reason on these shirts/dresses I love doing a raw edge. I just do a zigzag stitch along the bottom. But if you don’t like that then you can finish off the seam here or add hem tape.

Then we are going to ruffle it. In case you don’t know how to ruffle, here’s how. Set your sewing machine to the longest, straight stitch you have. Then loosen your tension as much as you can. Then, SEW! Ruffle are so easy and so fun. If you have any more questions about the ruffles, let me know.

Now here’s what you should have- one big ruffly piece.

We’re going to attach the fabric piece to the top. Pin the top to the fabric piece all around. Make sure you pin it well !

Now serge or sew the fabric to the top. When you come all around you will need to close the open seam at the back to finish the shirt.

Here’s what you end up with!! I also did the pants in exactly the same way I do the shirt.

Here’s some other one’s Ive done. It’s so great because you don’t have to throw away those old shirts anymore! It is such an easy dress or shirt because the top part is already made for you! I added little ruffle to these sleeves.

This one I made little flutter sleeves then added a fabric flower on the side.

Here’s a long version.

Let me know what you think. And if you make them, take pictures and I’ll post them.

I’m working on another blouse refashion so keep checking back and hopefully I’ll have one done soon!

Here they are!! My beloved ruffle/twiggy dresses! I am SO happy with the way these came out! They are my favorite thing that I’ve done so far. I love the colors and how the girls are coordinating. They loved them, too! I ended up adding white bias tape to the collars and arms and then added a thick, white border at the bottom hem. I LOVE these dresses!